Graduate students from University of Georgia and Savannah State University have been selected as finalists for the 2021 John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship, sponsored by the National Sea Grant College Program. The program is designed for graduate students who have an interest in ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources, and in national policies that affect those resources.
The finalists will spend one year in Washington, D.C. in marine policy-related positions in legislative and executive branches of the federal government.
The finalists from Georgia are:
Maria Mercedes Carruthers Ferrero, Knauss Finalist
Maria Mercedes Carruthers Ferrero, who recently graduated with a degree from the University of Georgia School of Law. While in law school, Carruthers Ferrero worked as a research clerk and Georgia Sea Grant Legal Fellow at the UGA Carl Vinson Institute of Government. As part of her fellowship, she helped Athens-Clarke County compose a long-term sustainability plan. Carruthers Ferrero earned her undergraduate degree in interdisciplinary sciences at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus.
Amara Jones, Knauss Finalist
Amara Jones is pursuing her master’s degree in marine sciences from Savannah State University. Jones’ master’s thesis is focused on how temperatures affect the viral load of Panulirus argus virus 1 (PaV1) in Caribbean spiny lobsters. She is also comparing fishers’ opinions on the status of the spiny lobster fisheries in Florida and the Bahamas. Jones earned her bachelor’s degree in marine sciences from Savannah State University in 2012.
The two finalists from Georgia will join a cohort of 74 finalists in the 2021 class representing 27 of the 34 programs in the coastal and Great Lakes states and territories.
Placement of 2021 Knauss finalists as fellows is contingent on adequate funding in Fiscal Year 2021. For more information and a full list of finalists, visit the Knauss page on NOAA’s website.